The invention relates to a public terminal for publicly making available information, telecommunication or other services, with the operating functions required for that purpose being capable of being carried out by means of processing units included in the terminal.
Examples of such terminals are: public-telephone columns, emergency telephones of the [Dutch] AA, and ticket-vending machines for public transport. Such terminals are formed by a plinth having either a substantially tubular support and, above it, an operator console cased in a secure housing, such as in the event of the emergency telephone, or, if the size of the necessary terminal equipment so requires, by a more ample housing of steel plate mounted directly onto the plinth, such as in the event of the Dutch Railway Company's ticket-vending machine.